|
|
|
|
The Corvid Experiences
|
|
[Nearly a third of the Corvid family (41 species) is comprised of Crows and Ravens who make up the genus Corvus]
I have always had a strange affinity and association with Crows. As a boy growing up in North Texas they were my nearly constant companions wherever I traveled. I could be walking to school, riding my bike, playing with friends, etc. There would be Crows in attendance nearby with very few exceptions, if I was outside there would be Crows around. This has pretty much continued all through my adult life. One could argue that there simply is a large amount Crows in North Texas and I was bound to encounter them at almost every turn. Crows like hanging out, they are easy to notice, they don’t hide very well, and they almost always make their presence known.
In the mid 90’s I was working in a small office park near Forest Lane and Greenville Ave in Dallas. I went out for lunch daily and there would be always be Crows just loitering nearby or standing on my car. I began to take a little more interest in Crows and started witnessing odd things. Once while at the office I heard a distinct "Knock Knock Knock" at the front plate glass door and opened it to find a Crow lying flat on the grass with it’s wings spread out completely. I stood there about 5 feet away, I thought to myself “Oh my God! I’m witnessing this bird die.” But it finally got up and stumbled around like it had been in a trance or something….maybe it hit it’s head on a window and was knocked out for a minute or two. Not long after this happened I read an interesting book called “Animal Acts” that had some good information on Crows, it stated that Black Crows in Texas have been observed lying down in red ant beds and letting the ants crawl all over them and then getting up and smashing (crushing) the ants with their beaks and rubbing this ant mixture all over their wings and their bodies. Turns out those red ants have an acid in their bodies that is a potent psychotropic with hallucinogenic qualities and that these crows were observed repeatedly coating themselves in it……who knew?
I spoke with a lady once while I was still in Dallas and told her about my experience with Crows. She told me about having worked with Native Americans who would all give a part of their lunch everyday as an offering to the Crows, and someone would go out and place the food away from the building or cars. I started doing this and did it for many years and I came to believe that the Crows had somehow communicated with others that I was good for a free lunch, for months I tried different experiments and would go somewhere and watch the crows come and start waiting for me to put some food and there would always be a Crow come eat it within a few minutes. This has happened in many different states so it's not simply a regional thing.
There are not so many Crows now here in Arizona but I’ve recently seen a group that seems to be watching me and coming a little closer. I’ll try some granola bars, that's always a crowd pleaser.
|
|
|
|
|
